Rand Paul Plagiarizes Wikipedia, Stephen Colbert Approves (Video)

Paul occasionally uses a movie plot to explain a larger point, such as how pro-choice policies will lead to a eugenics-based society, just like in the 90s sci-fi movie Gattaca. Paul gives a brief summary of the plot…which is lifted verbatim from the Wikipedia article on Gattaca.

Rand Paul may have finally embarrassed himself. The Kentucky Senator and all-but-declared Presidential candidate has done and said a lot that other people found ridiculous (as in, worthy of ridicule), but Paul himself is proud of his libertarian beliefs, his loud public statements and his ability to woo the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with romance poems (yeah, that happened). No, Rand Paul found embarrassment where people find all sorts of stuff: Wikipedia.

Paul occasionally uses a movie plot to explain a larger point, such as how pro-choice policies will lead to a eugenics-based society, just like in the 90s sci-fi movie Gattaca. Of course, not that many people saw Gattaca, so Paul gives a brief summary of the plot…which is lifted verbatim from the Wikipedia article on Gattaca. Stephen Colbert gives a hilarious defense of Paul the way only Colbert can. Watch that above. It will brighten your day.

Paul did the same thing with the movie Stand and Deliver (while speaking to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, after wooing them with romantic poetry). We’re not talking about a line or two either, Paul takes two full paragraphs from the Stand and Deliver Wikipedia entry and pastes it into his speech.

Did Rand Paul do this himself? Probably not. Very few politicians bother to write their own speeches. The questions he’s been getting about this might be the first time he realized he was plagiarizing Wikipedia. It’s still a huge embarrassment, though. If it wasn’t, Paul would be answering those questions.